Now and always: Let the sunshine it

Published 6:09 pm, Friday, March 19, 2010

It was John Adams who declared the Unites States would have a government of "laws, not men."

As Americans, it's hard to read that and not feel our chests swell with pride.

But too often throughout our history, and too often today, the men (and women) in government have been able to reverse Adams' equation.

We bring this up because we have just concluded National Sunshine Week, an annual observance sponsored by the National Freedom of Information Commission to promote awareness of our right to know -- about what's going on in our country, state, city or town.

Every year, Sunshine Week is marked by floods of statistics, studies and, yes, newspaper editorials bemoaning how far we've strayed from the Founders' vision. But in simplest terms, Sunshine Week comes down to a question: Who owns the government?

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The guy on the corner owns the government. So does the woman in the veterinarian's office, the check-out person at the grocery store and the kid who delivers your pizza.

It does not belong to the senator in the limo or the bureaucrat in the IRS. Nor does it belong to the guy sitting in the Oval Office.

President Obama came into office promising to lead the most open government ever. He started out strong. Just a few months into the new administration, Attorney General Eric Holder announced not only new policy but a new culture, when he directed all Executive Branch officials to act with a "presumption of openness" in regards to the Freedom of Information Act, meaning: provide information even in cases when the act says you technically don't have to.

It signaled a sea change in government transparency. But a year into the new presidency, not much has changed.

The Associated Press this week reported that major federal agencies hid behind the act's "deliberative process" exemption -- which guards the government's "decision-making process" -- 70,779 times during the 2009 fiscal year, nine months of which Obama was president. That was a very sharp increase from 47,395 "deliberative process" exemption cited during fiscal year 2008.

There are legitimate, legal reasons for keeping some information secret. But a great many of those "deliberative process" claims spit at John Adams' declaration.

Sunshine Week isn't just a time to ponder highfaluting notions about the meaning of the United States, however. It's a time for citizens to educate themselves about their rights -- to know how their tax money is being spent, what's going on in their kids' schools, whether their city or state representatives are attending meetings and how they are voting, how their town went about awarding the new trash hauler's contract, and whether their neighbor received the proper permits before building that monstrosity of an addition.

You can find an indexed version of Connecticut's Freedom of Information Act and a lot of other useful information on the state Freedom of Information Commission's Web site: http://www.state.ct.us/foi/.

Sunshine Week has ended, but the struggle for more sunshine in government never will. Or put it this way: If it does, the country is going down with it. Above all, remember this: If someone in government tells you that you can't see something, chances are you can. Remember: The government belongs to you.